The present disclosure relates to a separator including a centrifugal drum having a vertical axis of rotation and a feed line for material to be centrifuged. A drive spindle for the centrifugal drum is rotatably mounted on a housing via a bearing. The housing is supported elastically on a machine frame. A drive device includes a motor housing and an electric motor having a stator and an armature which is aligned with the drive spindle. The drive device and the motor housing move with the drive spindle as co-vibrating units during an operation of the separator.
Separators of this type are suitable in continuous operation for industrial use and are known. The known systems include constructions in which the drum, the driving spindle and the electric driving motor are connected rigidly to form a constructional unit which is then elastically supported as a whole on a machine frame. Examples of prior art of this type are disclosed in FR 1,287,551, DE-B 1 057 979 and DE 43 14 440 C1.
The prior art also includes DE 198 13 436 A1 and GB 344 224 A, which disclose a driving spindle for the centrifugal drum, said driving spindle being mounted rotatably by means of a bearing in a housing which is supported elastically on a machine frame. Also see WO 00/78 465 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,460 A1.
WO 2007/125066 A1 also discloses a separator with a direct drive, the driving device of which has an electric driving motor with a stator, and a motor armature which is aligned with the driving spindle. The stator is connected rigidly to the machine frame, and the motor armature, the driving spindle, the centrifugal drum and the housing form a unit which is supported elastically on the machine frame and vibrates during operation.
Against this background, the present disclosure relates to improvements on the design of separators comprising a direct drive.
The present disclosure thus includes a centrifugal drum having a vertical axis of rotation and a feed line for material to be centrifuged. A drive spindle for the centrifugal drum is rotatably mounted on a housing via a bearing. The housing is supported elastically on a machine frame. A drive device includes a motor housing and an electric motor having a stator and an armature which is aligned with the drive spindle. The drive device and the motor housing move with the drive spindle as co-vibrating units during an operation of the separator. The drive device is connected to the machine frame below the bearing at a lower axial end of the bearing via one or more joint elements. A stiffness of the one or more joint elements in an installed state with respect to the axis of rotation is smaller in an axial direction than a stiffness in a radial direction.
The motor is fixed in a suitable manner, for example, in the radial direction but can carry out the same axial movements as the driving spindle that occur during operation.
The stiffness of the joint element(s) in the installed state is, for example, less than half the size or amount in the axial, or vertical, direction than the stiffness in the radial direction. That is to advantageously ensure movement together in the axial direction.
For example, this can be realized in a simple manner by the joint element or joint elements being designed as sheet-metal parts.
It is, therefore, within the scope of the present disclosure to provide one annular sheet-metal disk or a plurality of annular segments or sheet-metal strips distributed around the circumference as the joint element. Sheet-metal elements of this type are cost effective and can be integrated into the construction in a simple manner.
Other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following descriptions when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.